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Levy ’17 Learns the Ropes of a Start Up

Posted in Internships

Griffin Levy ’17: The Headshot Truck, California – My 2016 summer has been one of the most educational and fun summers I have ever had. As part of the small business internship fund, I was lucky enough to be chosen to work at The Headshot Truck located in the heart of the North Hollywood arts district. As part of this internship, I have learned an overwhelming amount about small businesses and start-ups. The first, and most unique thing I learned about start-ups were just how small these companies are, the office I work in has six desks, and a small meeting table, a back room for photo editing and that’s it. No fancy office space just hard working people who want to do everything to make their start-up succeed. That’s another huge part of what I’ve learned working in a start-up, the people. Although The Headshot Truck has about 20 employees total, including the photographers, editors, sales teams, and partners, only a small number of them work in the office. It’s different than a typical office because I only interact with about six of the members of the company daily.

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Levy ’17 Giving the Headshot Truck Attention

Besides just the basic differences between a large company and a start-up, what I have been doing for the past six weeks is helping with sales for the company. Most of the days I am on the phone calling potential clients, either leads that have been given to me through previous connections or cold-calls to acting studios or companies that might be interested in our product. Another huge part of the sales I have been doing is promoting our Indiegogo campaign as part of The Headshot Truck’s second truck being launched in New York in the middle of July.  An Indiegogo campaign is a kickoff campaign to help raise money and awareness for the second truck.  As part of this campaign we are doing discounted headshots and other packages people can purchase. The hardest part is that the campaign is only  30 days long, and we have a goal to raise a certain amount of money within those 30 days, so sales are immensely important to this process.  This is where I have learned the most, I’ve learned about in-person sales, and sales through the phone, and yes there is a huge difference between talking on the phone to someone and in-person sales.  Learning about how to talk to someone on the phone, learning about assuming the sale, and just all around etiquette on how to talk to someone on the phone. This has helped me tremendously; a skill that can help with phone interviews or simply talking to anyone on the phone; this skill will definitely help me.

I have also learned sales are about adapting to a situation. Sometimes I’ll be on the phone with acting studios; sometimes I’ll be talking to real estate agents — each one requires a different approach to pitch our product and specifics to highlight in the pitch. I also have learned that it’s also not all about sales pitches, it’s more about building relationships with who you are talking to. I was told that it takes at least six points of contact before a sale is made, so if I’m calling just to make a sale, my success rate is a lot lower instead of trying to build a relationship with the person or company.

Since the Indiegogo campaign is a massive project, I have devoted a majority of my time helping with that, but I have a couple of other side projects I’ve been working on as well. The biggest ones are working on The Headshot Truck’s LinkedIn page and developing a lead page for the company. The LinkedIn
page hasn’t been updated in a while, and since I knew a decent amount about LinkedIn I took responsibility to learn more about the website and how companies use them. Along with learning about websites and creating content, we will be experimenting with using a lead page for The Headshot Truck.

Working at a start-up has significantly changed my outlook on the workforce as well. One benefit of a small start-up is the flexibility that you have. I can go from sales to marketing in a matter of seconds and get experience with those categories. This is great because I have the opportunity to try out different departments and see which ones I like the most and what I’m good at. It certainly keeps things fresh day-to-day and allows me to try out different roles.

I have always been interested in the idea of sales as a career, and this experience has given me a more in-depth view of what it would be like to develop a career in sales. It has shown me the exciting side of making a sale and always talking to people, but has opened my eyes to the downfalls of a career in sales as well. Sometimes cold calling is difficult. Although you meet and talk with lots of very pleasant helpful people, you also talk with those whose one job is to make your life more challenging.

Without the help of the Small Business Internship Fund and Career Services at Wabash I would never have had the opportunity to go to a new city and learn as much as I have learned. I am truly one of the luckiest college students to have such great experiences all thanks to our alumni network and the opportunities Wabash has given me.


Armuth ’19 Exposed to a New Field

Posted in Externship
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Armuth ’19 with his externship advisor

Connor Armuth ’19: IRHA – If you are one of the people who thinks that externships aren’t valuable because of their length, you are wrong. Assumptions like that are what limit students. I know this frequently happens because I was one of those students who downplayed the significance of externships before I landed mine.

When I came to Wabash, I had no intentions of going into the “healthcare” field. The reason I am using quotes is that my assumption, the first problem being the word assumption, was that if I didn’t want to be a doctor or nurse or dentist I didn’t have a place in healthcare.

Thanks to the Indiana Rural Health Association taking me under their wing for their annual conference, I discovered an entire field of jobs that I had no idea existed. One of my good family friends works in healthcare policy and hospital management. He knew I was interested in business and wanted to expose me to the business sector of health. At first, I was skeptical, thinking that it would be a waste of my time because if I wasn’t a bio or chem major I wasn’t going to be involved with healthcare whatsoever. Little did I know, by the last day of the conference, I would have a summer internship offer for next summer.

Thanks to Career Services, I have had a little bit of practice networking just like every other student who has been to one of their networking events. By networking, I was able to communicate properly with professionals in the healthcare sector of business, and it turned out that I left with an internship offer. At first, I was shocked because this conference is the only exposure I had ever had to this type of work, but the man who offered it to me said he wasn’t worried about my lack of experience. If you show someone that you are motivated and willing to get out of your comfort zone, that shows the attributes of a valuable employee. Anyone can learn something like policy, but not everyone can approach it with the same attitude and willingness to work.

Getting out of my comfort zone led me to meet a group of amazing individuals who work in a field that I just so happen to find fascinating. Healthcare policy is something that liberal arts students have a place in. If it weren’t for our family friend pushing me to attend this conference, I wouldn’t know anything about the debates and board meetings on the change in healthcare policy.

I understand how lucky I was to have this opportunity presented to me after a casual conversation about school. This doesn’t mean that if you don’t have a connection you cant explore a new field. Professionals love to help out college students who are exploring the workforce because we are the future. It is very easy to think that you aren’t worth the time of a certain alum or that trying to talk to them would be a waste of their time, but I learned something that you have to conquer that fear. Believe it or not, they want to help you.


Brown ’17 Enjoys Many Aspects of CTS Nashville

Posted in Internships

Wesley Brown ’17: CTS Logistics – My internship this summer with Commodity Transportation Services in Nashville, Tennessee has been unique in a variety of ways.  In short, CTS is a freight brokerage that mainly deals in the logistics side of transporting produce throughout the country.  This particular internship is rather unique because I am working with one CTS logistics manager, Mike Hrgota, out of a condominium because we are working toward gaining loyal customers on this half of the country in order to start and expand into a branch office in the Nashville area.  All from the condo, Mike and I are responsible for coordinating the transportation of produce from the Southeast to the Mid-South, Midwest, and Northeast regions of the United States.  This internship has been especially challenging, but Mike has took me under his wing by teaching me a vast amount about the business as well as helping me gain irreplaceable professional experience by giving me a sizeable amount of responsibility in company matters.  Mike has also taught me some valuable life lessons, including a healthier diet and how to cook a delicious Cajun baked chicken breast.

In the first six weeks of my internship with CTS, I have aided in many cases and also been solely responsible for obtaining a trucking company for a partnership, as well as tracking over 50 loads.  These loads have almost all been transported in refrigerated tractor-trailers; almost all the loads have been of some variety of produce, and on average each load brings in about $250 profit for CTS.  In total, the

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Brown ’17

loads I have been heavily involved in have created a total profit of about $11,000 for the company and helped build a strong base of produce shipping customers.  A freight broker’s job may sound easy on paper; however, almost nothing is simple in trucking when dealing with produce.  Timing is probably the most crucial element in the freight brokerage practice: the truck must be at the shipping location waiting and ready when the product is picked at a farm, many times truck drivers are late for a load appointment or cannot find the shipper or consignee location, some loads require the refrigerated trailer to be at 40 degrees for the first 6 hours of a run and then 34 degrees for the remainder of the trip, there are often insurance claims on loads of produce that are over/under ripened or damaged during the run, and many other problems that occur on a daily basis in the produce shipping business.

In order to at the very least have a handle on these challenging situations, the most important skill I have developed during this internship has been problem-solving.  These problems that occur are very real and it is the freight broker’s sole responsibility to do their best to fix things that go wrong with loads.  At times we are not able to fix the problem, but even then we must work to keep the customer happy and transport their product where it needs to be in a different manner by making adjustments.  Last week, a load of watermelons that I was tracking was rejected at a US Foods Distribution center in Hatfield, Pennsylvania for being “too cold.”  However, my coworker and I communicated and worked together to sell the load to a smaller food company nearby in order to keep our shipper and loyal trucking company happy.

This Small Business Internship Fund program has been a complete immersion into the life of a freight broker and logistics manager.  The position is demanding and nonstop, as I have often times had to step away from the dinner table, fishing hole, or local music venue on weekends in order to take calls and work from my phone in order to solve developing problems.  My favorite part of the internship has been a feeling of accomplishment after a driver calls to update me that he has successfully delivered a load of produce all the way from Florida to Michigan, about a 1,300 mile run.  This being my first internship in the business world, I have learned a great deal about how a business is run, and have learned that I might like to work in sales one day.  I have also fallen in love with Nashville and now strongly want to live and work in this area in the future.  I have experienced culture such as music, history, and nature that would not be possible anywhere else.  Another great part of my SBIF experience here has been networking with Wabash alumni in the area.  Just last night I went on a five mile walk with Tim Morrison ‘83, and talked with him about everything from the business world, baseball, and our strong Christian faith.  In conclusion, I would like to thank the Small Business Internship Fund program and all people involved in this process for allowing me this wonderful opportunity to gain unique professional and life experience through this amazing program.


Schuler ’17 Finds Career Path Assurance

Posted in Internships
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Schuler ’17 hard at work

Aaron Schuler ’19: Handshake – Thanks to the Small Business Internship Fund (SBIF) managed by Wabash College Career Services I’ve been able to learn a lot this summer. The company that I am working for is Handshake. They are a career services platform aimed at connecting students with employers by providing information on internships and employment opportunities. Through this internship, I’ve done many things for the company in many different fields.

My primary function is playing a support role to the account managers here. This role includes a lot of customer interaction. I answer questions as schools go through the implementation phase and are still learning the product. During the implementation step, I am also in charge of creating user accounts for the main career services staff of each school within our training, uploading, and handshake system. I also create reports on data within the system so that the schools have data to understand how the system has improved each school’s services. For example, I can determine the student involvement within the system over a period of time and send the results to the career services staff. Unlike many internships who focus mainly on teaching an intern one position, I also help with the sales and management teams at Handshake. I’ve worked on SDR projects for the marketing and sales team and I have looked at invoice reporting and office management to help management.

Coming into this summer, my career path was focused mainly on sales and marketing and from the experiences that I have had, I think sales, marketing, and account/project management would all be occupations that I would enjoy having post graduation. Mainly I want to be in a position where I have customer interaction. Handshake knows how to talk to and take care of their customers. I’ve learned a lot about the career service industry and made many connections with some of the best directors in the nation, further developing my good and helpful attitude in working with customers. I’ve been able to learn many things in the first four weeks I’ve had with Handshake. Thanks to the SBIF program I have the opportunity to learn many different parts of how a small business operates and what they value compared to larger corporations over the course of this summer.


Bye ’19 Internship Increases Business Interest

Posted in Internships
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Scott Bye ’19 closing a deal.

Scott Bye ’19, CTS Logistics – Starting off from day one, our boss and Wabash alumnus Erik Ness told us that this internship wouldn’t be like the others. From day one, I was given responsibilities that most others receive training before actually doing for the business because all it takes is one screw up to lose $50,000 in this industry. I am interning for Commodity Transportation Services, CTS, doing logistics and freight brokerage work. To not bore anyone, we make sure produce goods (watermelons, onions, cantaloupes, etc.) get from shipping warehouses to Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and a multitude of other distribution centers so their inventory can be restocked and sent to the very stores that we all shop in.

The job is challenging since we are the middle-men—between our customer and the truck that we hire to deliver the goods—and try to make our profit while keeping both sides happy. Being submerged into the business so quickly, there really wasn’t any room to learn slowly or get behind as the work can be very, very challenging. In just 4 weeks, I have learned more about this industry and the negotiating side of business than what I knew coming in.

In my short time working here, my interest in a career in the business field has only increased. Seeing how this company operates, communicates, and succeeds is all something that I can keep with me for the rest of my life and use to my own advantage and reference in the future. I would like to thank the Small Business Internship Fund for making this opportunity possible. On top of the incredible business experience that I have/will gain because of this, I will also bring back countless memories and 8 new friendships that will continue past my stay here in Phoenix. With work 6 days a week, we take advantage of our Sunday off-day and do something different every week—from hiking and tubing to indoor soccer and going to the Grand Canyon. All-in-all, I can truly say that this has been the best and most enjoyable summer of my life so far and none of it would be possible without Wabash and the SBIF.


‘Go West, Young [Wabash] Man’

Posted in Career Test-Drive

By Patrick Bryant ’16

A dozen Wabash sophomores and juniors had the opportunity to visit technology and finance companies of various sizes over the course of a four-day Professional Immersion Experience in the San Francisco Bay Area.  It was a great way to finish break and prepare for the spring semester.  First of all, I want to extend thanks to Mr. John Schroeder for his generosity in making this trip happen.  I would also be remiss to not extend thanks to Scott Crawford and James Jeffries of Career Services for their efforts on not only putting this together, but making sure we made our visits in a safe and efficient way.

It could be said that we were the “guinea pigs” for this first trip out west, but the quality of the visits we made certainly made it hard to believe that could be the case.  The two days that we spent making visits were divided between a day in the Silicon Valley region and a day in San Francisco.  The scale of the companies visited varied from the likes of Google, Twitter, Shutterfly, and Wikimedia (the parent company to Wikipedia), to smaller startups like Mei Wu Acoustics and Knack.  Most visits gave us an opportunity to talk to alumni, but very candidly, we found each and every person we met with to be very hospitable, knowledgeable, and happy to have Wabash guys visiting.

Bryant ’16 was very grateful for the access to experts he received during the SF PIE Trip

For an economics major, I consider myself someone interested in and open to learning about technology, but I haven’t had any exposure to any kind of coding before.  This trip opened my eyes in the sense that often those technical skills weren’t the imperatives for the profile of an intern or new hire.  Often it was adaptability or the ability to collaborate.  For any Wabash guy, that’s second nature.  That message was reinforced during our final event, a networking dinner at Lolinda, an Argentinian restaurant in San Francisco.  The variety of backgrounds and stories shared among the alumni that met with us really made this trip something to remember.

I highly encourage programs like this to those alumni who have an interest in supporting something like this or hosting students in the future, or to students who have an interest in applying for these sorts of programs.  What we do in the classroom is so important and vital to the Wabash experience and in furthering the College’s mission.  That said, the opportunity to see in-person and communicate in an environment that forces one to use those classroom-developed skills is an asset to the Wabash education that shouldn’t be overlooked.


Bradshaw ’15 Makes Connections in the City by the Bay

Posted in Uncategorized

By Ben Bradshaw ’15

Before heading back to Wabash and delving back into classes, 12 fortunate students had the opportunity to embark on a Profession Immersion Experience to San Francisco.  Career Services Director Scott Crawford and Assistant Director James Jeffries planned the trip and traveled with the students.

Bradshaw ’15 and his fellow Beta brothers are all smiles after a day at some of the fastest growing companies in the US

Though the trip was short, it was packed with useful knowledge, new places, and helpful information for the students.  The day of the trip was spent traveling and exploring the new terrain.  A beautiful hotel on the Pacific Ocean acted as home for travelers and provided them with scenic sunrises each morning before taking off for the day.

On Thursday, the group traveled to Silicon Valley.  Here, they visited Shutterfly, Mei Wu Acoustics, Google, Red Rock Coffee, and Knack.  Of these, the first four businesses employed a Wabash graduate who showed us around and asked questions.  While most of these revolved around technology, not usually a strong suit at Wabash, students gained a sense of where a liberal arts degree could take them.  The individuals that make up the student group came from various backgrounds with regard to their majors/minors and activities on campus.

A long day on Thursday did not stop students from hoping out of bed on Friday morning, just in time to see the sunrise over the Pacific as they grabbed breakfast at the hotel.  With Director Scott “Razorback” Crawford at the helm, the group set off for downtown San Francisco.  Awaiting them in the The City by The Bay were a group of exciting businesses, many focusing on technology.  These included Indiegogo, Twitter, Wikimedia, Aon Consulting, and Calypso Technologies.  While only two of these businesses had Wabash men working for them, the employees at all were quite welcoming and willing to offer knowledge and advice.

Friday night was one of my favorite parts of the trip, and because of this, I’ll spend more time reflecting on it. We arrived at dinner after a long day of immersion in different businesses.  Our dinner was scheduled at Lolinda, a Portuguese restaurant in the Mission District.  The food and drinks were phenomenal, but the real treat came with the people we conversed with over dinner.  Approximately 20 alumni and 15 guests from our destinations from our two days of discovery joined us at the table for drinks and dinner.

For the most part, students sat with individuals whose companies they were intrigued by sometime during the previous two days. Jordan Johnson (Physics Major) sat by an alumnus who works at Mei Wei Acoustics; James Kennedy (Art/Physics Major) sat by the graphics designer at Knack, as so on.  I was fortunate enough to sit by John Fields, the owner of a venture capital firm specializing in financing water and energy efficiency programs.  I’m extremely interesting in investing, and having some background knowledge on venture capital through my father, John and had talked for most of the night.  I’ve stayed in touch, and have a call with John on Friday afternoon.  I also spent a great deal of time talking to one of the founders of Profusa, a startup company with a product that helps read blood sugar levels without pricking ones finger for those with diabetes.  We discussed the business process they’re going through as a startup company.  It was exciting to see the development that goes into starting up the business side after a great product has already been developed.

The men had a packed day, but that didn’t stop them from staying attentive during all of their scheduled meetings

Overall, the trip was a great experience.  In talking with individuals from all kinds of businesses in San Francisco, students were able to learn outside of the classroom, and certainly learned more than they do inside the classroom.  I’d recommend the trip to others in a heartbeat, and will carry memories, knowledge, and connections from the trip for years to come.


Haffner ’16 Gets the ‘Little Giant’ Treatment with SF Alumni

Posted in Uncategorized

By Michael Haffner ’16

Fortunate to have been selected for the immersion trip to San Francisco, I was surprised to find such a supportive and abundant Wabash community throughout the Bay Area.  We met and interacted with the companies of multiple alums, along with a few others, all of whom generously let us observe their workspace.  We discussed the ins and outs of life after Wabash and more specifically life as a San Franciscan.

We spent the first day of the trip in Silicon Valley visiting Shutterfly, Mei Wu Acoustics, Google, Red Rock Coffee, and Knack.  The second day we observed various companies in downtown San Francisco including: Indiegogo, Twitter, Wikimedia, AON, and Calypso Technologies.  Each company differed in the way they functioned.  For instance, Wikimedia and Red Rock Coffee are non-profit organizations with philanthropic goals in mind while Google, Shutterfly, Twitter, and others were for-profit companies focused heavily on growth and earnings.  What fascinated me was that each company attracted and sought out employees with specific personality types.  Wikimedia was filled with workers who sought to make a difference in the world, regardless of how much money they made.  Their goal was to be able to allow each person in the world to have online access to the same educational tools.  Calypso technologies, a for-profit organization, on the other hand, attracted hard working people who, because of the potential for higher pay, were willing to spend a lot of hours traveling and working in various demanding positions.

Wabash men were in SF for only two days, but that didn’t stop them from seeing a good deal of the city and the wonders it had to offer

Furthermore, we were able to observe the work environment in both established companies as well as a startup company, Knack.  Knack strategically designs games that shed insight into the psychology of a person.  In future years, Knack hopes that other companies, and possibly even colleges, use their games to measure the likelihood of success of  candidates for employment or a student at a particular school.  The main difference I noticed between Knack and more established companies was the type of discussions that were occurring among employees.  At Knack, the atmosphere was loose and encouraged creative thinking while at Google, everyone had a task and the employees were haphazardly winding through the Google campus with a mission.

To wrap up the trip, we attended a networking dinner at a unique Argentinian restaurant in the city, Lolinda.  Listening to the alumni talk about the path they took after Wabash was intriguing.  Many were working in a field in which they had never expected.  As a biology major, I often find myself being narrow-minded and thinking that health graduate school is my only logical path after Wabash.  However, I was assured by multiple alumni that the possibilities after Wabash, regardless of my major, are endless.  We talked with Psychology major, Jonathan Walsh, who now works at Calypso Technologies and Philosophy major, Mike Berry, who now works at Shutterfly.

I will sum up by saying that after this trip, I have never been more proud to be a Wabash man.  When talking with each alumnus, none of whom I had met before, I felt as though I had known the person my entire life.  Each person I met reached out and was willing to help me with anything.  It assured me that even after Wabash, I will still be a Little Giant when any other fellow Wabash man reaches out to me.


Schroeder ’15 Gets Feet Wet in Law with Career Test Drive

Posted in Uncategorized

By Jackson Schroeder ’15

As part of the Career Services Test Drive Program, I spent a week at the Legal Aid Society of Louisville during winter break.  The Legal Aid Society provides free legal services to people who fall below the poverty line.

During the week, I spent the majority of the time calling previous clients and asking them to complete a client satisfaction survey.  Yearly client satisfaction are done to show the donors of Legal Aid that the practicing attorneys are doing their job and completely satisfying the people.

When I wasn’t doing client satisfaction surveys, I was at the courthouse shadowing the attorneys of the Legal Aid Society.  The first time I went to court was an eye opening experience because the attorney had three domestic violence cases.  While prepping the clients to enter the courtroom, the attorney had to make sure they were ready to answer the judge’s questions clearly and truthfully.  The clients were visibly upset by the fact that they were seeing their alleged attackers for the first time since the incident.

Two of the three cases were continued to a later date with the final case culminating with exciting closing arguments by the two attorneys.  After the Legal Aid attorney won her case and got a domestic violence order against the client’s husband, she told me how the case was very unusual.  In the beginning part of the hearing, the opponent’s attorney was very argumentative and angry with the judge.  I was very surprised by his actions and was later told that he could have gotten a contempt of court charge if he continued in his disruptive manner.  Overall, I was impressed by the attorney’s ability to think on the spot and make solid arguments for her clients.

On my second visit to court, I was able to witness Veteran’s Court, which is a new venture by the state of Kentucky.  The purpose of Veteran’s Court is to make veterans enter a program meant to rehabilitate rather than punish.  As part of the program, the veterans do not spend jail time but have random drug tests and see a psychologist to help treat their PTSD.  The court is structured to provide support to the members who often have unsupportive families or families who do not understand what they have been through.  During the weekly meetings, the judge makes sure to act as a friend and supporter who want to see them succeed.

On my third and final visit to court, I visited Evictions Court.  Prior to entering the courtroom, I was told that Evictions Court is like the fast food of law because each case takes about 10 seconds.  The attorney for the landlord calls the name of the person getting evicted and if they are there, then they come up to face the judge.  The judge asks if a payment was made.  If not, the judge signs the eviction form and the next name is called.  The only arguments against getting evicted are if you have receipts proving you paid or if the landlord did not maintain the housing while one was living there.

Overall, I learned a lot about the Legal Aid Society functions as well as the general court process in domestic violence, veteran, and eviction cases.  The weeklong internship has furthered my interest in law and opportunities to help others within the field of law.  I am especially grateful to Jeff Been for allowing Wabash students to gain experience in the field of public law and also the hospitality he provided.


Guess What Andrews ’15 Did Over Break

Posted in Career Test-Drive, ,

By Tyler Andrews ’15

Silicon Valley and San Francisco are every bit as cool as you have imagined. And better. If you didn’t already enjoy the aspect of being in a relatively warm temperature year round, or the fact that the geography just outside the city is phenomenal, or the fact that you have a million different locations to travel to for pleasure, you can definitely take pleasure in the thriving, driving mind that is Northern California. (Might be part of why the price tag is so up there, but it’s worth it).

Andrews ’15 and Patrick Kroll ’16 take in the natural sights after seeing some professional ones

Over winter break, I was part of a phenomenally lucky group of 12 Wabash college students. We were all Sophomores and Juniors, excited to be getting away from the snowpocalypse, or polar vortex, or whatever you’ve come to call it. We knew it was going to be beautiful scenery and trips to some prestigious companies. But being there in person made it all the better. On our trip, we visited a couple of small places called Google, Twitter, Indiegogo, Wikimedia, and Shutterfly, to name a few.

Since I’m sure not many of you have seen it, Google is intense beyond anything you can imagine. If you are ever lucky enough to visit the location in Silicon Valley, brace yourself. We met with a Wabash alumnus who was part of the design team for Google Instant, Google Glass, and numerous other applications and programs. Every which way you turned was the Google yellow, red, green, and blue. Their philosophy was to promote creativity through interaction and community thinking. There were gardens and beach volleyball courts and even a giant dinosaur covered in pink flamingos. And don’t get me started on how amazing their food court was…

The thing to know about Silicon Valley is that it is an absolutely incredible area for tech companies because it isn’t bustling with people on the roads like the big city. There are dozens upon dozens of office buildings with large corporation logos on the sides, and slid in between are ponds and different landscapes to brighten the place up. In Silicon Valley, we visited Shutterfly, Mei Wu Acoustics (a noise and vibration consulting company), Google, Red Rock Coffee (a church run coffee shop that has made over $1 million in revenue in the last two years alone…), and Knack (a software company that is designing games to help companies evaluate potential employees). Every visit brought a different twist, but each had bright new ideas and was inspirational to us as students.

We started the next day off by going straight to the heart of San Francisco, and getting a taste of the commuter experience, riding the BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit. We kicked the day off by visiting Indiegogo and getting a more in depth understanding of the online crowd-funding world. Our host, Bre, was wonderful, and provided us with lots of tips on how to start our own crowd-funded ideas. We then visited Twitter, Wikimedia, AON Consulting (who just sponsored Manchester United), and Calypso Technologies. The big difference about companies in San Francisco versus companies in Silicon Valley is the privacy. Walking down the street, you would have no idea where Twitter, Indiegogo, or any of these companies were located. Knowing the address of each, we got through security at each of these areas and proceeded up to the offices of these awesome companies. And let me tell you, the views were just as incredible as the production that these companies were kicking out.

All in all, I would have to say that Twitter and Google tie for the coolest locations on my visit. Google is just, well Google, and is on a whole different level of corporation status. Their idea of how to run a company is mind-blowing…mind-blowingly successful. And Twitter, ironically started by a Google guy, is just as exciting. Their view of San Francisco was the best we saw, and was viewed from their huge patio overlook 7 stories. Twitter has some excellent ideas circling right now, and are looking to expand even more, so I’m especially excited to see what they do. Personally, my goal is to land an internship with Twitter this coming summer, but we’ll see what happens!

Thank you to the Wabash College Career Services and to one of our great alumni, Mr. Schroeder, for making this event an opportunity. It was an incredible event, and I look forward to going on future events potentially like it. Feel free to contact me with any questions about the trip, or just check out Wabash College!